Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Lowers Stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

Key Points

• The Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank significantly reduced its stake in Celanese Corporation by 71.3%, selling 56,713 shares and now holding 22,866 shares worth approximately $1.298 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds have shown increased interest in Celanese, with several firms, including Dodge & Cox and Turtle Creek Asset Management, boosting their holdings by substantial percentages during the 4th quarter.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments on Celanese, with target price adjustments ranging from $48.00 (Piper Sandler) to $77.00 (KeyCorp), indicating an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank trimmed its stake in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 71.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,866 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 56,713 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Celanese were worth $1,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Celanese by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 145,013 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,036,000 after buying an additional 6,123 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,679,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $184,998,000 after purchasing an additional 73,498 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 630.2% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,333,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $291,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on CE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an "underweight" rating and set a $48.00 target price (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.50.

Celanese Stock Up 2.5%

Celanese stock traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,686,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,725,984. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of -3.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.94. Celanese Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $36.29 and a fifty-two week high of $142.54. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $56.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.20.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 11.28% and a negative net margin of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently -0.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the purchase, the senior vice president directly owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Celanese Company Profile

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. It operates through Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain. The Engineered Materials segment develops, produces, and supplies specialty polymers for automotive and medical applications, as well as for use in industrial products and consumer electronics.